Crystal Palace V West Bromwich Albion: Baggies to spoil survival party

Championship Tips

 

Crystal Palace V West Bromwich Albion: West Bromwich Albion to WIN @ 2.75 VCbet

 

Monday, 26th April – 20:00 (GMT)

LIVE on SKY SPORTS 1

The Championship, England

 

For one team there is everything to play for this evening, as Crystal Palace, 21st in the Championship table take on West Bromwich Albion, 2nd and already promoted back to the Premiership, in a fixture where the Baggies could play the part of Devils Advocate this evening in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

 

Palace’s season should have been settled by now were it not for their hefty 10 point deduction for going into administration. Add 10 points onto their tally of 47 and Crystal Palace would have finished the season in a rather cosy mid-table position. Instead, however, they’re battling for their life’s down near the foot of the table with their Championship status seriously under threat. The good news, though, what with Sheffield Wednesday losing at the weekend and there being just one game left to play for some, two for Palace however, is that a win tonight for The Eagles would be enough to save their bacon as it would take them club four points clear of the drop and leave Sheff Wed with an impossible task of reducing the deficit.

 

That’s some incentive for Palace tonight and it’s hardly surprising the bookies have slashed their price because of it. Moreover, their opponents finished their campaign several games ago and have been assured of Premiership for some time now even if it was only confirmed a few weeks ago. Di Matteo’s Baggies now have nothing at stake between now and the end of the season apart from having an ill-fated hand in Palace’s destiny. For this reason alone, bookmakers across the land have priced West Brom up at a ludicrous price, with Victor Chandler‘s quote of 2.75 the very best we could find – Stunning!

 

West Brom may have little to play for but they’ve proved throughout the campaign that they’re a class above the majority in this league and that promotion was a matter of when and not if. They eased to promotion and are 11 points clear of Nottingham Forest before tonight’s game. The gap between them and Palace is 32 points, 22 without the deduction, and that speaks volumes. Moreover, the Baggies, at this business end of the season, have been in rock solid form having gone 10 games without losing in the league, while the simple fact they’ve already gain promotion hasn’t halted their progress as they’ve won their last two league encounters; Doncaster Rovers 2-3 and Middlesbrough 2-0.

 

Roberto Di Matteo hasn’t expressed any desire to go easy on Palace by selecting a weakened team for the trip, while the Italian has even hinted that Roman Bednar may feature despite needing to undergo a hernia operation in the summer. There could be a few surprise inclusions, a couple of the West Brom kids getting a much deserved run out, but we still expect a whole host of West Brom’s regulars to feature from the off this evening as Di Matteo will surely show some respect for Sheffield Wednesday and this relegation fight by fielding a team which won’t just turn up and be competitive on the night but also a team more than capable of winning at Selhurst Park, reversing the 1-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of Palace at The Hawthorns earlier in the season.

 

West Brom’s price, which isn’t far off 2/1, is insanely good as where it not for Palace’s predicament – being in a situation where only a win will do – The Baggies would surely be around 5/4.